Hacking Away at the Truth
by Anteater
Summary: One-shot, fluffy B&B story, told from Andrew Hacker's perspective. Slight spoilers and speculation for the end of the season.


A/N: So I am working on the next chapter of "The Triad of the Trial" but this idea wouldn't leave me alone so I got it out of my system. Please enjoy and review!

Warning: Slight spoilers and speculation for the end of the season.

Hacking Away at the Truth

There were certain moments in life when you saw someone and that person instantly took your breath away, made your heart flutter and all the other clichéd romantic notions. For Andrew Hacker, this moment happened when he met Dr. Temperance Brennan. He still remembered walking into Booth's office, wanting to let him know that he needed the latest case files from him and he saw her, sitting in the chair across from his desk. She was laughing at something that her partner had said, her smile lighting up her amazingly clear blue eyes. He had heard the rumors about these two "partners," that they were very close and that a lot of people thought they were sleeping together.

But this did not deter Andrew. He knew that his position in the FBI impressed most women and had no doubt that he could use it to his advantage with Temperance as well. Over the next several months, he was persistent about asking Booth about his partner; trying to get information about her likes and dislikes and more importantly, trying to figure out how close exactly these partners were to each other. Booth always was very short with him when talking about Temperance, claiming on multiple occasions that they were "just partners" and changing the subject whenever the conversation steered towards his partner. And even though he noticed that Booth got really uncomfortable when talking about Temperance, he determined that there was nothing romantic going on between the two, he knew that there was the potential for it and wanted to strike while he still had the chance.

In the beginning, it had been great. She seemed to enjoy his company, laugh at his jokes, and they had some very stimulating conversations. He only complaint was that she was a little distant and Andrew could feel that sometimes her mind was somewhere else and whenever he tried to bring up Booth, she would get a different look in her eyes and quickly and not so subtlety change the subject. And while they had some moments together, whenever he wanted to move forward in the physical aspect in their relationship, she would pull back from him, claiming that she wasn't ready. He respected her decision, of course, and enjoyed what time with her he could get.

During this time, Booth had become snippier with him and quite frankly; Andrew was getting tried of it. It had gotten to the point where Andrew was considering bringing him in for a disciplinary hearing, hoping that it would let him know that his behavior was unacceptable but Booth had not done anything that was deliberately against the rules. But Andrew could tell that Booth didn't respect him (though he doubted that he ever did) and it had just gotten worse since he began to date his partner. So Andrew enforced some non-official punishment, including more paperwork and shifts on the weekends, hoping that Booth would get the message but the agent was stubborn and Andrew was out of options. But just as long as he got Temperance, he knew he could deal with Booth's surliness.

But in the middle of April, things between him and Temperance changed. She asked him out for coffee and told him that while she really liked him, she thought it was better for everything if they stopped seeing each other. Andrew was shocked; he had not seen this coming. He tried to get more information out of her as to the sudden change, but she was vague about her reasons and ran out of their meeting when her cell phone rang, claiming that someone at the lab needed her urgently. He went back to his office, stunned, and didn't get any work done for the rest of the day. As the months went by, he saw her a couple of times but she always avoided him. He again, though, was not deterred. He considered this more a break than anything else and was going to give her some time to rethink her decision and realize that they had something special.

Now it was the middle of summer, a blissfully cooler day than they had recently and all of Washington D.C. seemed to be outside, enjoying the weather. Andrew was one of them, enjoying his lunch on a bench on the Mall, people watching and relaxing after a tough morning. He had called Temperance this past weekend and had left a message for her to call him when she got a chance. He hoped that she had enough time to reconsider and wanted to go out with him again, even if it was just friendly in the beginning.

As he watched everything going on, he saw her, walking on the pathway on the other side of the park. She was carrying a grocery bag and it looked like she was trying to find somewhere to sit. What a lucky break, he thought. As he was about to call out for her, he saw her face light up and wave to someone. Andrew couldn't see who it was yet, but was intrigued and decided to stay silent and wait to see who she was meeting. He was not surprised to see Booth walking toward her, knowing that they shared many meals together and for a moment was relieved that she was not meeting another guy. But he almost choked on his sandwich when he saw Booth tenderly put his hands on either side of her face and pull her to him for a kiss. It was light, nothing that would be considered inappropriate, but it was clear to anyone who was watching that there was an intimacy behind it that only people plainly in love shared. Andrew saw the matching smiles on both their faces when he pulled away, Temperance's smile taking on a blinding quality that he had never seen when they were together. Booth's hands were still on her face and hers were resting at his waist underneath the jacket of his suit, the grocery bag laying forgotten on ths ground at her feet. They were talking and laughing about something, obviously caught up in each other. After what Andrew thought was a long time but was probably only a minute or two, they broke the embrace but didn't break apart. Temperance grabbed his hand and entwined her fingers with his as they walked along, trying to find a place to sit. They made the perfect couple, Andrew noticed. He was very attentive towards her; she was talking and Andrew could see that Booth was really listening to everything she said, a soft smile on his face as he looked at her, their linked hands swinging in time with their gait between them.

Andrew had seen enough and decided to leave before the couple saw him and his heart broke in half. He got up, quickly discarded his trash, and walked towards the direction of the Hoover, suddenly very interested in burying himself in his work for the rest of the day. As he walked away, he couldn't help but looking over his shoulder more time. He saw them sitting on the bench he recently vacated. Temperance was leaning against him and his arm was thrown around he shoulders. He wanted to feel angry at them; angry for being so happy and so in love when his heart was breaking but he found that he couldn't be. How could he be angry when it was so obvious that they were meant to be with each other?

Walking back, he took out his cell phone and pulled up his contact list. He searched for Temperance's number and when he found it, he deleted it from his phone, knowing that he wouldn't need it anymore. Because, as he suspected but it didn't want to believe all those months ago, he had fallen for a woman that had already given her heart to her one true love.


End file.
